One day after a dreary, deflating defeat in Green Bay, the San Francisco 49ers came upon a sliver of good news Monday.
Quarterback Brock Purdy, who missed Sunday’s 38-10 loss to the Packers because of shoulder soreness, did some light throwing Monday at the team’s Santa Clara headquarters. It went well, according to head coach Kyle Shanahan, offering hope Purdy might return for next Sunday night’s game against Buffalo.
“We didn’t push it that hard,” Shanahan said on his weekly conference call with reporters. “He’ll rest (Tuesday) and we’ll see how he feels as the week goes. … Hopefully, it responds better than it did last week.”
The 49ers (5-6) also remain in wait-and-see mode on two other marquee players, offensive tackle Trent Williams (bruised ankle) and edge rusher Nick Bosa (strained oblique). Williams and Bosa “are in the same boat as Brock,” Shanahan said, after also missing Sunday’s game in Green Bay.
Shanahan indicated Brandon Allen will start at quarterback against the Bills (9-2) if Purdy cannot play, “unless something crazy happens” during the week. Allen mostly struggled against the Packers, completing 17 of 29 passes for 199 yards in his first start in nearly three years.
He also threw an interception and fumbled twice (losing one).
“I thought Brandon did some really good things,” Shanahan said Monday. “He made one bad decision early in the game, where No. 7 (Packers linebacker Quay Walker) dropped it. I thought Brandon made some big plays that gave us a chance to get back into it.
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“What he does have to do better is protect the ball in the pocket. The ball was on the ground too much.”
Sunday’s loss dragged the 49ers deeper into the standings, with little margin for error as they try to reach the playoffs. San Francisco stands fourth and last in the NFC West, essentially, tied with the Los Angeles Rams at 5-6 though only one game behind co-leaders Seattle and Arizona (both 6-5).
The problem: The 49ers have lost three of their four division games (including one to the Rams), putting them at a distinct disadvantage for tiebreakers.
Widen the scope and the 49ers find themselves 11th in the overall NFC standings (seven teams make the playoffs), with Washington currently holding the final wild-card spot at 7-5. The 49ers would need to climb past several other contenders to qualify for the postseason.
They probably need to win five of their last six games, and maybe all six, to have a realistic chance. And going 5-1 seems sort of unrealistic given the way the 49ers are playing, and the number of top players sidelined with injuries.
Shanahan holds few illusions. Asked if he views every game as practically a must-win at this point, he replied, “Yeah, without a doubt.”
“I think everyone knows,” Shanahan said. “It’s nice when you’re one game out of first (place) in your own division. So that says a lot, especially being able to play two of those teams in our last six games.
“But you look at the whole NFC picture and if you don’t win the division, 10-7 is not guaranteed a wild card by any means this year. That’s why that Seattle game (Nov. 17) was so tough and why (Sunday) was even worse.
“We know what we’ve got ahead of us, we know exactly what the playoff situation is. … We’ll come back Wednesday ready to fight, because that’s all we can do right now is just fight our butts off.”
The trip to Buffalo — where the forecast calls for the temperature to be about 30 degrees at kickoff — would be daunting even at full strength. But the 49ers’ health problems stretch beyond Purdy, Bosa and Williams.
Shanahan reported several other injuries to emerge from Sunday’s game, including guards Dominick Puni (shoulder) and Aaron Banks (concussion protocol), cornerbacks Deommodore Lenoir (knee) and Renardo Green (neck), defensive tackle Jordan Elliott (concussion protocol) and linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (knee).
Green and Flannigan-Fowles are day-to-day, while the 49ers are waiting for MRI results on Puni and Lenoir.
The 49ers are planning to open the practice window for linebacker Dre Greenlaw this week, meaning he’s expected to start practicing Wednesday. Greenlaw hasn’t played since tearing his Achilles in the Super Bowl.
Briefly: Cornerback Charvarius Ward, who hasn’t played since the death of his young daughter Oct. 28, plans to fully participate in practices this week, Shanahan said. … Guard Jon Feliciano (knee) will remain on injured reserve and won’t return this season.